The difference between balance and stability (and why it matters)
⚖️ The difference between balance and stability (and why it matters)
⏩ By definition, balance is the ability to maintain the body’s center of gravity/equilibrium over its base of support in the absence of much movement. It’s a proficiency relative to a specific task, like standing on one leg.
⏩ Stability is the ability to control the body during movement and/or return to desired positions following the disruption of equilibrium. Think: being able to withstand getting pushed, landing on one leg, or holding a KB bottoms up. As it’s often referred to regarding joints, stability basically means the ability of a joint/joints to withstand external forces with strength, control, and sound positioning.
💭 In other words, whereas balance is more of a skill-specific proficiency, stability is a constantly changing state depending on the muscle actions and joints involved (as well as load, velocity, duration, etc.). For example, a canoe might be balanced sitting in water, but it’s hardly stable compared to a big boat, which is far more equipped to handle disruptions when the conditions aren’t perfect.
👉🏻 Why does differentiating between the two matter? Because it's stability - and not really balance - that matters in real life. Here's how to train it:
✅ Get strong. Stability is intertwined with strength; without strength, stability can’t exist
✅ Respect the static-to-dynamic stability continuum. Example progression: split squats > walking lunges > alternating bounds > sprints
✅ Get out of the sagittal plane. Example progression: lateral squats > lateral lunges > lateral sled drags > lateral hurdle hops
✅ Train unilaterally. Perform a mix of supported and unsupported single-leg work and do more unilateral/reciprocal pushing and pulling
✅ Use different stances. Employ tall-kneeling, half-kneeling, and split stances to challenge stability at different angles and across multiple joints
✅ Use various loading modalities/tools. Raising the center of mass generally increases stability demands (e.g., 2-KB racked split squats), as does using tools like KBs, which force control in two planes of motion rather than one
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